(NewsNation) — It turns out that when it comes to happiness, more money is better.
new the study Millionaires and multimillionaires have been shown to be “significantly and statistically significantly happier” than people who earn more than $500,000 a year.
Survey results by Wharton senior fellow Matt Killingsworthsuggests that the positive correlation between money and happiness extends all the way up the economic ladder, challenging previous research that suggests money can only buy happiness up to a certain point.
“The difference between wealthy and middle-income participants was almost three times larger than the difference between middle-income and low-income participants, contradicting the idea that middle-income people are closer to the top of the money-happiness curve,” Killingsworth wrote.
This analysis is Famous papers from 2010 A study by psychologist Daniel Kahneman and economist Angus Deaton found that happiness tends to rise with income, but hits a ceiling at around $75,000 ($108,000 in today’s dollars).
Last year, Kahneman and Killingsworth The work was reanalyzed And they found that, on average, money seems to increase happiness, at least up to $500,000 a year — and Killingsworth’s new research suggests this trend extends even further to the ultra-wealthy.
Those with net worths in the millions or billions of dollars reported life satisfaction levels between 5.5 and 6 on a 7-point scale, on average. In comparison, those earning $100,000 a year rated themselves just above 4.5, and those earning between $15,000 and $30,000 a year rated themselves just above 4.
“This large difference refutes the common claim that money is only associated with small differences in happiness,” Killingsworth writes.
While it seems clear that more money makes us happier, the paper does not address causation – whether money itself is the main factor, or whether other benefits that come with having more money are also a factor.
Previous research has also shown that the relationship between happiness and income varies from person to person: for example, a 2023 study by Kahneman and Killingworth noted that the unhappiest 15% of people would become happier with an increase in income, but only up to $100,000.
“It remains possible that there is a threshold above which money is no longer associated with increased happiness, but if there is a threshold, these results suggest that it is significantly higher than an income of several hundred thousand dollars per year,” Killingsworth concluded.
